December has been a month of extreme highs and lows. As I’ve pushed forward with the opening of Nectar Tasting Room (January 6-8), I’ve experienced several crushing blows that are almost immediately followed by big wins. This experience has certainly added several grey hairs to my head and wrinkles to my face. Last January, I kicked off the year with my first Nectar Monthly Honors recap. While not quite as cool as a Grammy nomination, it has been an attempt to capture my favorite things from the previous month. I make it a point to save favorite tweets, blog posts, […]

Several stories dominated the 2010 wine news wire. The themes ranged from economic struggle and contraction to the emancipation of grape distribution. 2010 also marked the tipping point of wine blogging and wineries began to embrace new technology and social marketing strategies. The Wine Blogger’s Conference came of age in Walla Walla and the Hosemaster of Wine went into retirement. James Suckling left Wine Spectator to pursue an online site and the original wine blogger, Robert Parker began tweeting. What news stories will dominate the 2011 landscape? Will the economy continue to impact the wine industry? Will the grapes finally […]

Three months ago I announced the biggest journey of my life. This little wine blog social media experiment has grown from a branding initiative to three businesses. On October 4, we agreed to lease 2000 square feet at 120 N. Stevens in downtown Spokane. After several construction delays and an ever ballooning budget we are finally gearing up to open. I plan to write a detailed post about the lessons I’ve learned along the way, but for today I wanted to provide you the final progress report on construction and announce the grand opening. The next video you see will […]

Choosing the best of the best can be a challenge. With wine being so subjective to taste, the food you’re eating, your mood and even lighting, calling something “tops” carries a certain degree of uncertainty. As I looked back at the 168 wines that qualified for this list I began to salivate at the memory of the wines. Thirty of the wines scored 4 and 4+ along the way. Prices ranged from $20 – $120. While I can’t taste all of the wine out there, I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to taste the wines on […]

These days everyone is looking for a value. $15 is the new $25 when it comes to wine prices. Finding quality wines at $15 and under can be little bit of a challenge. Never fear, I have tackled the often unenviable task of sipping through some swill to present 10 wines worthy of showcase. My top 10 list for 2010 contains several local favorites and a few nationally distributed stars as well. As I looked back through the reviews I discovered that 105 wines competed for these 10 spots. The white wines stood taller than the reds and Washington was […]